S.C. jobless rate dips for second straight month

South Carolina’s jobless rate dropped for the second straight month in August to 11.5 percent as schools prepared to reopen for the new year, according to a new report out this morning. The state continued to have the sixth-highest unemployment rate in the nation.

The state gained 14,300 jobs last month, mostly in the school system, according to the report from the S.C. Employment Security Commission.

But construction jobs continued to decline, dropping below 100,000 for the first time since February 1997.

The hospitality industry also lost 2,700 jobs last month.

South Carolina’s jobless rate was 11.5 percent in April before spiking to an all-time high of 12.1 percent in May.